Bitter Magic
ArashiX
Mimi: -she sets down a plate of cookies for her little boy.- "Come on over here. I sadly didn't bring a book this time, but I figured we could just spend time together~ Your father will hopefully join us later."
Aulis' eyes light up a little as he scoots a little closer towards the cookies when Mimi mentioned cookies and set them down. His ears drooped a little when he heard she didn't have a book to read. "Is it his job to read?" He asked quietly a little curious as he continued to inch a little bit closer towards the cookies while eyeing Mimi. He wanted to make sure she didn't make any moves towards him while hoping to land a paw on the cookies this time. Aulis' stomach gave a small growl as he smelt the fresh baked goods and his mouth began to water.
Mimi smiled a little awkwardly at the child's question. "Oh, no no.. it's just that he's better at reading out loud than I am.." she said, sitting back to show the boy it was safe to come and grab the treats.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. We should probably get you some nice clothes, eventually, as well. Would you like that?" She gave a kind smile, fixing her hair a little as she curled her tail around herself and watched Aulis.
"Ohh" Aulis said simply at her explanation and continued to watch her but when she leaned back he relaxed a little and grabbed a few cookies off the plate and enjoyed them his tail showing that he enjoyed them.
His head tilted slightly. "New...clothes?" He eyed his clothes and wondered what was wrong with them, sure they were full of holes but they gave him a little extra warmth.
She kept smiling calmly at Aulis. Sure, this was quite different from what she had imagined parenthood to be, but the poor child had really needed a loving home. He'd come out of his shell eventually, she trusted.
"Yes, wouldn't it be nice to have different clothes to choose from? On some days you might feel like wearing something, and then the next day you want something else entirely. Aether and I can take you shopping someday, if you'd like", she said.
Aulis scarfed down a few more cookies and pulled at his clothes. "I thought I had to wear these..." He tugged at them again. "I did want to wear something else before but I was told that I just needed these ones." He whimpered and tucked his tail between his legs while starting to inch back. His little eyes starting to show signs of tears as he remembered that day when he asked if he could have something else.
"Ah! No need to cry, dear! Things are different now, you can wear what you want, eat whenever you want and whatever you want - w-well, okay, maybe not right in the middle of night but you get the idea.. and you can go out and play freely!" she said, her voice trembling a little. She almost got up from where she was seated, she wanted so desperately to hold the poor little child and assure him everything was okay. "Once you're a little bigger, Aether and I can even teach you how to cook and bake..!" she promised.
Aulis' eyes has a small spark of hope of getting what he wanted seemed nice and the tears still lingered at the edges of his eyes but then it was soon quenched underneath a mental foot. They must have wanted something from him to be this nice to him, his parents who left him were like this too, nice when they needed something from him. Whether if it was an image of a good parent when someone came over or when they finally decided to show him off for the 'freak' he was by either his coloring or that 'freaky' power to move things that he wanted. His eyes were probably telling her that he was starting to think this was a trap as he let her words sink deeper in his mind while his hair was starting to bristle a bit. Learning to bake these yummy things they had been bringing him sounded like too good of an offer to top it off too. With his tail twitching and his eyes dry of the tears that were once forming he spoke up again. "How do I know you won't show me off while pretending to be nice to others? Or maybe you'll start showing off my freaky powers to others?" He spoke lower and asked her. "What do you want?" A tiny growl started to escape from his small form.
Mimi shook her head firmly, resisting the urge to scoop up the child and cuddle him forever. "I don't think you're a freak. You have a gift, yes, but it's for you to use how you see fit. I just hope you learn to control it so you don't break so many things anymore", she said calmly. "We would never want any harm to come your way. We took you in so you could live a quiet, normal life.. we don't yet have other children, so we thought it would be nice to look after someone who doesn't have a loving family.." the female tried to explain to the child, holding her arms open for Aulis. She kept smiling, though at this point there was a hint of pain in her expression, pain from imagining what this poor boy had been through in his short life.
"We simply want to love you."
Aulis' head drooped when she mentioned him breaking things, he felt like he was being scolded completely ignoring the fact she just said he had a gift or that she didn't think he was a freak. He was still skeptical that they didn't wish to harm him, but so far they hadn't done anything which was good. "Normal? Love?" He asked quietly. "What are those?" Again he asked this time in a more confused tone and he flopped onto the floor and covered his little head under his paws trying to wrap what she just said around his brain. Their 'normal' seemed different than the one he was used to, so was their version of 'love'. Who's version was true? His birth parents or these crazy foxes who decided to bring him home? What was he supposed to believe?
Normal for him was being stuck in a small dark area and keeping as quiet as possible with nothing to entertain himself with except his imagination. This couple hadn't done this yet but it didn't mean they wouldn't eventually...Would they? Love was not getting food when he was hungry but when they decided to feed him, which meant a lot of tummy grumbles. It was not getting attention, care, smiles and having fun but being laughed at and shown off as if some kind of freak or prize. So far these two seemed like they were doing the opposite of what his parents had done. He got food, they kept trying to get his attention usually by bribes of cookies or stories. They even gave him smiles even when he was being obnoxious. With all of that he had relaxed his guard down a little, but it didn't mean he trusted them yet. He kept an eye on her now and then through his paws as she tried to hold her arms out to him for some reason. Was it to grab him and do something to him? Was it to actually give him a hug? He didn't know and it was frustrating him as he bit his lip.
"ARGH! YOU'RE CONFUSING ME!" He wailed a little after trying to figure out their motives for him and flopped his tail over his face with his paws already there. This female and her mate were so weird and his head was starting to hurt. The fact they didn't have any other children yet made him a little happy it meant he didn't have to worry about others approaching onto his new territory that he was stuck in.
"Aulis, dear", Mimi said softly, "I'm very sorry for how you were treated previously.. but that is not how parents are supposed to treat their child!" The female shook her head firmly as she said this, her hair flipping about. The timid girl would never have imagined to come across someone so deeply hurt, so scarred inside and outside. She didn't really even know what to do at this point, but she certainly wouldn't give up on this poor boy. Nobody deserved such misfortune!
She and Aether had done the right thing taking Aulis in, but boy, she had never thought that they would have this much difficulty ahead of them.
"We would never want any harm for you. We want you to grow up into a healthy young man, and we'll do our best to help you get friends, and make sure you always have whatever you need.." she said, her voice breaking a little as she spoke, fighting back tears. Tears of sympathy for this poor little boy, who she already loved dearly, and so wished she could hold.
Aulis’ lifted his head from his paws and tail and gave a little head tilt. “Are you sure? I’ve seen quite a few families do it too.” He frowned as she denied that families were supposed to treat each other like crap. A definite confused look crossed his face when she mentioned the concept of friends and a big ‘huh?’ came out of his small mouth. Now she was mentioning words that he didn’t know a thing about but before he could ponder the word ‘friends’ he eyed the empty plate of cookies when she mentioned something about him having whatever he needed. “Cookie?” He gave a small happy look then it quickly reverted to his ears drooping sadly as he ducked his head still used to not asking for anything.
